Garden hand tool

ABSTRACT

A garden hand tool having a tubular outer member terminating at its bottom end in an elliptically shaped peripheral edge with such end being open, a plunger reciprocally mounted in the tubular member and a spring that resiliently biases the plunger upwardly in a direction away from the elliptically shaped open bottom end. The elliptically shaped peripheral edge is preferably in a plane disposed at an angle in a range of 15° to 22°1/2 to the longitudinal axis of the tubular member so as to be readily forced by hand into the earth to remove a weed or plant. The plunger projects upwardly beyond the upper end of the tubular outer member providing a portion that can be readily grasped to push the plunger downwardly to remove any earth associated with the plant that might be stuck in the bottom end of the outer tubular member.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates generally to a hand tool for removing plants fromthe soil and incorporating means to discharge the removed plant from thetool.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

A spade-like, short handle tool, also known as a trowel, isconventionally used by a person for removing weeds from a garden orlifting root and plant from the soil for transplanting. These toolsoften bend at the juncture of the blade and handle when force is appliedto the handle to try and remove the plant together with its roots by aprying action. To prevent this bending the soil must be extremely loosewhich is not always the case. Another drawback is that the earth oftensticks to the blade of the trowel and this must be scraped off in somemanner before continuing to use the trowel in removing another plantwith its roots.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a simple hand tool forremoving plants individually from the earth in which the tool is light,but relatively strong for prying loose the plant and its roots.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tool of the foregoingtype in which means is provided for removing the plant from the toolalong with earth that has accumulated.

In keeping with the foregoing objects there is provided in accordancewith the present invention a hand tool comprising a rigid elongatetubular member having one end thereof terminating in an ellipticallyshaped outer edge lying in a plane disposed at a selected angle to thelongitudinal axis of the tubular member, said outer edge having aleading relatively sharp edge for ease of penetration into the earth; aplunger reciprocally mounted in said tubular member and spring meansresiliently biasing said plunger in a direction towards an end of saidtool opposite said one end.

LIST OF DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated by way of example with reference to theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an oblique view of a garden hand tool provided in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a section along line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the tool;

FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view, of larger scale, illustrating analternative construction for the plunger; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating analternative construction.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings there is illustrated a garden hand toolcomprising a rigid, elongate, thin wall, tubular member 10 having anelliptically shaped edge 11 at one end thereof, a plunger 20reciprocally mounted in said tubular member and an elastic means 30attached at opposite ends respectively to the plunger and tubular memberto bias the plunger in a direction away from the elliptical shaped openend.

The tubular member 10 is preferably a thin wall metal tube of suitablematerial or suitably coated on the inner and outer surfaces to preventrusting. The tube, for example, may be stainless steel, aluminum orother metals which are suitably coated for example by chroming, toprevent rusting. The tubular member may be zinc or chromium platedrolled steel or in some cases made of a plastics material.

The elastic means 30, for example, is a rubber band anchored to theplunger by way of a pin 21 and to the sleeve by for example being loopedaround a lug 13. The lug is shown as an upwardly turned portion of thewall of the tube located at the trailing end of the tube but it could bereadily located more forwardly toward the leading end of the tool. Thisprovides an inexpensive anchor but obviously a number of other anchorswill be readily apparent to anyone skilled in the art. In place of aloop the elastic means 30 may be a strip of elastic material anchored atone end to the plunger and at the other end to the sleeve.

The anchoring pin 21 is provided with a head 22 to prevent the band fromslipping off during normal usage. The upwardly turn piece 13 may beprovided with suitable rounded corners, padding or the like means toprevent cutting of the elastic band. The pin 21, as seen from FIG. 4 ofthe drawing, prevents rearward movement of the plunger by strikingagainst the rear most edge 12 of the elliptical open end. Pin 21 servesas a stop defining the at rest position of the plunger, relative to theouter tubular member 10.

The elliptical edge 11 is located in a plane disposed at a selectedangle to the longitudinal axis of the tubular member. The tubular memberis preferably circular in cross-section and the selected angle ispreferably in the range of 15° to 22° 1/2°. This provides a relativelysharp leading edge as indicated at 11A facilitating penetration of thehand tool into the earth.

The plunger 20 may be a shaft of wood as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2and has a leading blunt end 24 for pushing the earth and plant from thetube 10 and a hand grip portion 25 at the opposite end that projectsbeyond the outer tubular member 10.

Referring to FIG. 4 there is illustrated a modified plunger 20A in whichthere is a cavity or recess 24A. The cavity 24A may be provided by a capmember 24B secured to a shaft which may be either solid or alternativelytubular as illustrated in FIG. 4. The cap 24B could be a piston membersecured to a small diameter rod guided in the tubular member 10 by asleeve type bearing not shown.

In an experimental device each of members 10 and 20 had a length of111/2 inches and the outer tubular member 10 had an internal diameter ofapproximately 11/8 inches and a wall thickness of approximately 1millimeter. Also in the same device the length of the tube from thetrailing end to edge 12 measured approximately 8 inches. The edge 11 iselliptical in outline configuration and lies in a plane disposed at anangle of preferably about 18° to the longitudinal axis of the tube 10.

Referring to FIG. 5 there is illustrated an alternative for the tubularmember 10 and which consists of a metal ribbon bent to form a generallycylindrical tubular member with the adjacent longitudinal edges of theribbon spaced apart providing a longitudinal gap 15. If desired a piecetransversing this gap and fastened to the tube may be used as an anchorfor the elastic means and also rigidify the tool. In this embodiment theplunger may be a tubular member 20A as illustrated or a solid plasticrod or a wooden rod 25.

The foregoing described tool is a simple, strong, hand efficient gardentool suitable for transplanting seedlings, or loosening the soil, ormaking aeration holes in the soil or holes for depositing bulbs and/orseeds in selected areas and removing weeds individually from the earth.To use the tool one grasps the tubular member and pushes it endwise intoground to penetrate the earth below the root of the plant. The sharpedge 11A minimizes the manual effort required to do this. With the toolat an inclined angle one then pushes down using the tool as a pry withthe earth being the fulcrum. The plant and its roots are thus loosenedand readily lifted from the ground. A push on the plunger discharges theearth (and plant) from the tool.

I claim:
 1. A garden tool comprising:(a) a rigid elongate tubular member terminating in an earth penetrating elliptically shaped outer peripheral edge at one end thereof, said edge having a relatively sharp leading edge facilitating penetration of such edge into the earth, said first member terminating in an open trailing end located opposite said earth penetrating end; (b) a second rigid elongate member telescopically disposed in said first member having a portion projecting from the trailing end of said first member, said second member providing at a first end thereof a plunger for discharging earth from said earth penetrating end of said first member and wherein said portion projecting from said first member provides a hand grippable portion; (c) spring means resiliently biasing said plunger in a direction away from said one end of said first member, said spring means comprising an elastic, stretchable member located on an outer surface of said first member, means anchoring said stretchable member at a first position to said first member and at a second position to said second member, said first and second positions being spaced apart from one another longitudinally along said tool; and (d) means limiting relative movement of said first and second members comprising pin means on said second member and a pin abutment portion on said first member, said spring means resiliently urging said pin means against said abutment portion on said first member which limits movement of said plunger into said first member in a direction toward the trailing end of such member.
 2. A garden tool as defined in claim 1 wherein said first tubular member is metal.
 3. A garden tool as defined in claim 1 wherein said first tubular member is thin wall metal tube.
 4. A garden tool as defined in claim 3 wherein said metal tube is circular in cross-section.
 5. A garden tool as defined in claim 1 wherein said ecliptically shaped edge is in a plane disposed at an angle in the range of approximately 15° to 221/2° relative to the length of said first elongate tubular member.
 6. A garden tool as defined in claim 5 wherein said tubular member is circular in cross-section and wherein said angle is approximately 18°.
 7. A garden tool as defined in claim 1 wherein said first and second members are a pair of telescopically disposed thin wall metal tubes and wherein the innermost tube has a closed end providing said plunger.
 8. A garden tool as defined in claim 1 wherein said first elongate tubular member has a lug protruding outwardly from the outer surface and wherein said elastic member is anchored at one end thereof to said lug and at another end thereof to said pin means. 